I have already acknowledged your last point. NI has never been an independent country - could you say the rest of Ireland had before it was?
Really? What do you think the UK stands for? Anything? I believe it is lost. We do not have a government capable of running the UK as a whole and I believe the people of the four nations would be able to forge a better identity given the chance.
Is that when colonialism ended? No one alive has experienced it or its long shadow? No one has any right to think That Statue commemorating that man who sold people as slaves and probably raped a few of them, is a bit rum?
The rest of Ireland was either made up of separate tribes or under British rule in its history. However they were, largely, one Galic speaking people who would of, if it were not for Cromwell's plantation, founded a single country by now, as have other former tribal states around the world (including England and Scotland). Northern Ireland is not a single people. People have been given the right, under the GFA, to be British, Irish or both. It's what fundamentally ended the troubles. Take that right away from either side and it will undermine that hard fought stability. And, like it or not, there is almost zero desire to become an independent nation from either side.
A chap I have become good friends with served on the Conqueror during the Falklands and told me there was almost a mutiny when the order came though to sink the Belgrano.
Yes and no. Charity is by voluntary donations, taxation is largely non negotiable. As a non poppy supporter whould you be happy for an extra 5% on top of your income to be taxed and forwarded to the British legion? Government is there to run the basics, there's an argument whether the level they run it at is acceptible or not. I'd say not, but there is a place for charity on top of that to improve the lot of those that the donators want to improve. Excessive taxation and spending on areas those taxed do not agree with, is not viable especially when the government has a poor return on the money and we are in aperiod of record taxation.[/QUOTE] Yep you're right, we're not going to agree on that. Unfortunately the arms trade is a neccesary evil when there is evil. The People of Ukraine are grateful for the support they have received. The regulation and control of the industry might not be what it could, or should be, but it's an industry that does need to compete on the world stage. When people work in an industry then need to be paid to feed themselves and pay the taxes you're advocating. Profit isn't a dirty word, excess profit however may be. My limited experiences with the officer classes do not neccesarilly correlate with your deducation however I am not experienced enough to counter.
Unfortunately, England was also a warlike nation, so that will need to be unpicked too. On the plus side, we can all give a hearty welcome back to the ancient Kingdom of Wessex.
